For the last 5 1/2 years, the Shalom Free Clinic has provided free medical and mental heath services to more than 9,000 under-insured and uninsured children and adults. The Chico nonprofit would love to add dental services but doesn’t have the $10,000 needed to buy a digital portable X-ray machine, said director Nancy Morgans-Ferguson.

“We have dentists ready to go,” she said. “We just need the equipment.”

Her hope is that with the click of a mouse, the community can help secure the funds.

The Shalom Free Clinic is one of hundreds of nonprofits competing online for the People’s Momentum Award by the Women’s Foundation of California. The winner gets $10,000 — exactly how much the Chico clinic needs.

It’s up to the public to vote for the organization that made the biggest difference on women and families.

As of Monday afternoon, the Shalom Free Clinic had 157 votes. Other contenders have a handful of votes, some have hundreds and a few have more than a thousand.

She thinks the Butte Humane Society’s near-success at winning a $100,000 makeover in an online contest two years ago is evidence the community could make this dream true.

“If everybody can stand up for the dogs and the cats, the least they can do is stand up for their neighbors,” she said.

Demand for dental care is growing, especially due to cuts in state-provided benefits, Morgans-Ferguson said. The clinic’s goal would be to do cleanings and fillings, teach proper dental hygiene, and provide extractions and treatment for infections and other maladies.

“This will give people an opportunity at saving some of their teeth,” she said. “The problem now is there is not appropriate care.”